Letters from the issue of April 22, 2010

Numbers count: Double kudos to this wise and prophetic man ("Down on the Farm," Kristen Hinman, April 14). Wayne Pacelle practices what I try to preach. A billion-dollar company will never listen to one person. But a million people, united, are enough to make a noise that some company will listen to. We should learn from this incredibly ingenious man's actions. We should note this is a procedure that worked and continue from there.

Joe Greco

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You bet: Ranchers raise animals for either milk or meat, and in most cases both. Why doesn't the Humane Society shut down the dog and horse tracks? Has anyone seen From the Stable to the Table? Very sad. And for what? So people can blow their paychecks in one afternoon when they should be feeding their families.

Anonymous

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F for Effort

Absent: I am a senior journalism major student at FIU, and I have never seen Dean Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver ("Dean's List," Jorge Casuso, April 14). Today the computer in class did not work, and when the professor tried to contact the IT department, nobody answered. We were able to take the class because one of the students let us use his laptop.

Arthur Gomez

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Truth and consequences: I was reading this article, and I could not believe that someone was actually writing the truth! It is true that the journalism program has problems, but it is also true that we, as students, are the ones allowing this kind of situation and behavior in our school. We students should do something about it. Remember, this is our school!

Liliana Colantuoni

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Paying the price: I graduated from FIU last spring. The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) was my second home. I cannot express my happiness to read this and finally know someone is listening. Many great teachers are part of the program, but morale was low when I was there. The fact that some of my professors had obvious concerns about keeping their jobs was heartbreaking and stressful for them. At the end of the day, each student's tuition helped pay Kopenhaver's $162,000 salary.

Nathalie Campo

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Dean wanted: In an era when thousands of hugely talented, prize-winning journalists are out jobs, why not hire one of them to run this program?

Sam Adams

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Can't Beat the Odds

Double jeopardy: It seems at least some of the investors were hoping to get in on a good thing even though they believed it involved something illegal, or at best didn't care. ("Poor Man's Madoff," Gus Garcia-Roberts, April 14). Double your money in 90 days? C'mon, anyone with half a brain would've known that's suspicious. Yet they keep hoping to beat the market averages and get rich. I don't have much sympathy for any of them. They'll all scream and hope there are public funds to help reimburse their losses.

Anonymous

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Blame Game

Wild pitch: I find it very amusing that when things don't go a certain way, the easiest thing for people to do is to pull out the race card ("Luke's Gospel," Luther Campbell, April 14). This is not a "pick on the black man" situation; this is a "Hispanic people are better at baseball than blacks." Period! Instead of hating Dominicans and other black players who are Hispanic, African-Americans should step up their game and practice a bit harder, like underprivileged players in other countries do. Oh, and by the way, just because you're not from North America doesn't mean you're not black. The United States wasn't the only country that had slaves shipped for sale.

Alex

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Fielder's choice: The fact is African-Americans have no interest in baseball because they prefer football and basketball. If we go this route, why aren't there more Hispanic football or basketball players?

Mike

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Sacrifice squeeze: With all due respect, this is a good thing for young black men. Perhaps this will finally encourage youths to pick up a book and decide to become accountants or doctors.

Roy Cogburn

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